Methods have been proposed where configuration of wireless communication parameters such as SSIDs (Service Set Identifiers), which are network identifiers, encryption methods, encryption keys, authentication methods and authentication keys, generally considered cumbersome and complicated to users, is performed automatically. For instance, as for auto-configuration of a wireless LAN, a method requiring only simple operations for automatically transferring wireless parameter settings of an access point (relay station) and a station (terminal) from the relay station to the terminal has already been realized and commoditized.
Moreover, in recent years, communication over so-called ad hoc networks, where devices perform direct wireless communication with each other without having to go through a relay station, has become more and more common. Thus, demands for automization of wireless communication parameter configuration in ad hoc networks have been on the rise.
One of the problems encountered when performing wireless communication parameter configuration in a wireless LAN ad hoc network is that the lack of a mechanism for managing the statuses of the network devices, such as what kind of terminals joined or left the same network at what time, which prevents initiation of communication among a plurality of devices in such network environment, and makes it difficult to perform communication parameter configuration among the plurality of devices.
In regards to techniques for managing statuses of network devices, Patent Document 1 describes an operation involving selecting a leader device from the network nodes, and having the leader device manage a group in order to achieve network node group formation and maintenance. To be more specific, Patent Document 1 is U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,523 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open 06-350652).
When performing communication parameter configuration among a plurality of devices, in order to respond to such security demands as reducing the probability of network participation by unexpected terminals, or reducing power consumption at mobile terminals, it is preferred that the processing time for such configuration is kept at a minimum. In other words, it is desired that processing such as role determination or status detection of devices be performed in an expeditious manner even during device status management.
However, the above example of the conventional art does not consider such reduction of processing time, and is therefore inadequate to meet the aforementioned needs.
In addition, since the detection method in the above example of the conventional art involved verifying device statuses according to a preset interval, a problem exists where, for instance, the detachment of a device immediately following status verification can not be detected until the next verification, making prompt status detection impossible.
Furthermore, another problem with ad hoc networks is that due to the lack of a mechanism for keeping track of what kind of other devices are participating in the network and what capabilities the devices have, it is difficult to perform communication parameter configuration among devices according to the types and capabilities thereof in an environment as described above.